Just plain weird

     This is one for the books. Maybe I'm just cracking up. Last night, or early this morning I got up for a bathroom visit. It was getting light. I know it sounds silly but I have three clocks in the jon. One I have sitting on a ledge going in is a mantel clock that I am working on. It generally keeps excellent time and it has a chime that can be heard downstairs. I have it about ready for resale. The second clock is located on the wall beside the shower and theres a small one on a chest of drawers that I sat there, having no place else it put it. Anyway, as I started to leave the bathroom I checked the clocks to see if I had time for a few more winks. One clock said 7, one said 10 and one said 3. So I have a lot of clocks not working....right? I went back to bed and the clock on the stand beside the bed said 6:30. I figured it probably was about 6:30 so I went back to sleep. Oversleeping a bit, we got up at 8 or a few minutes after. I told my wife what had happened and she said "You just need one clock in there anyway". Like that solved the problem. Got dressed and returned to the bathroom to shave. All three clocks read the correct time within three minutes of each other. My wife swares she didn't get up at all last night and certainly didn't reset the clocks. So, here again, what happened?

Heavy walking and stamping

    Last night was one for the book. The day before Thanksgiving and everything was basically ready for the big day. Evening found us relaxing in our usual manner. My wife was talking with friends on the computer and I was half watching TV and doing some sketching. The dogs were in the Library with my wife, half asleep, between the computer and the doorway to the Den where I was located. My wife got up from the computer and walked to the Den doorway. She said "will you turn off the sound?" This seemed strange to me as I didn't think the TV was loud enough to even be much heard in the Library, but I turned down the sound. "Whats up?" I inquired. "Listen" she replied. Sure enough it sounded like footsteps, or rather hard soled bootsteps on a wooden floor. "Wheres that coming from?" I asked. "Sounds like upstairs", she informed. No bare wooden floors on the second story of our house, all are wall to wall soft carpet. I said I'd investigate and headed for the stairs. My wife and dogs remained downstairs. The sound of steps walking and stopping and stamping continued. As I went upstairs the sounds became clearer, louder. Unlike other times when the walking sounds lasted from a few seconds to perhaps as long as 30 seconds, these were continuing. I determined they were coming from the attic. Brave soul that I am, I armed myself with a 44 mag revolver and a big flashlight. The steps and stamping continued right up to the moment I opened the attic door. Then everything was silent. Cautiously I  made my way up the old narrow attic stairs. At the turn in the stairs, on the landing, I stopped and pointed the light around, but still being below floor level, it didn't help much, so I went on up.  There is one 40 watt bulb in the attic and it has to be screwed in to light (the string broke some time ago.) Carefully making my way over to the bulb I screwed in the light. The light is dim in that big attic and mostly just cast shadows. The light does not penetrate the larger section of the attic which is walled off except for a doorway. I figured that if someone was up there I had better search the lit part first. Like most attics, ours is filled with stuff too good to throw away but not good enough for much use. A 12 foot Christmas tree for example and an ancient kiddie car I had as a kid. I have pathways through the attic and I took each one until I was satisfied there was no one in that part. There are only two ways into the attic. Through the door at the foot of the stairs which we keep locked with a slide bolt (thats because my wife believed bats were pushing through to get down into the house) and the hatch to the roof which is also locked from the inside with two slide bolts (when we first moved here the hatch blew off a couple of times during bad storms, so now its locked). I checked the hatch and it was still solidly locked. That only left the large front half of the attic. Frankly, this time, I was feeling pretty darn sure we had an intruder some way. Moving into the front section I played the flashlight around all walls and ceiling, the flashlight is one of those new 80 light digitals and it was like a spot light, it lit the attic room. But I have items stored in there in rows up almost to the ceiling, so I needed to walk those isles until I covered the attic area. I found absolutely nothing. Returning and going downstairs my wife and the older grey dog were at the foot of the stairs, she had a moveable gate across the stairs because she said the dog wanted to come up where I was and she was afraid I might shoot him. I was tense, but I really don't think I was that tense. I asked her if she saw or heard anything after I went up to the attic. She said she heard me walking around but that was all. Laugh if you wish, but something like that can really get to you. What in blazes was it? A big mystery in the strange old house.

Strange Orange Nail Polish

   For the past few nights my wife has complained of insomnia. There is a medicine she sometimes takes for it, but we were out of it and so were the stores in town. So I know she didn't take anything before turning in. This morning I woke up way late. I was so late I almost missed church. Barely having time to dress, I made it just before the service started. When I got home, I mentioned to my wife how late I awoke. She said,"I haven't slept so well in weeks. Then she said, "Funny thing is, when I got up and started dressing I saw bright orange fingernail polish on my thumbnail and it was worn through to the nail in the center and I had orange flakes all down the front of me." I said she must have been using orange paint in her crafts. No, she replied, I haven't used orange paint on anything in months. "Besides, I would have seen it last night when I was washing up." That makes sense to me. But where did it come from and only on one thumb. Strange....really strange.

An experience from a long time ago

     Something brought to mind an incident that my wife and I experienced around 30 years ago. This did not take place here as we had not yet purchased this house. I had been teaching school in this area for three years and my wife and I decided to move here. We had been house hunting for some time. We wanted a big old house in the country with a little ground around it. My wife constantly scanned the local papers for property for sale. Finally, one night, an ad caught her attention. This all happened about 30 years ago, but the events, upon reccollection, seem more like just a few weeks ago. We made arrangements to see the house and got directions to it. The house was located in the middle of nowhere on a lonely but well maintained dirt road. As we drove the road, the countryside was beautiful and when we saw the house we decided then and there that it was the very thing we were looking for. A very stately New Empire brick sitting in the center of a 12 acre tract. The nearest neighbor was at lest a half mile down the road. The owners of the house warmly welcomed us and insisted on showing us the lay of the land. We were sold, I couldn't wait to make a deal. Upon entering the house it seemed we had gone back in time. The interior was very similar to those old movie sets of the old southern mansions. I couldn't believe it was in our price range. The rooms were huge, the ceilings were high and graceful doreic columns seperated the parlour and dining room. Natural wood floors still shone with almost just laid beauty. Large fireplaces, ornately decorated were found in each room. All had been closed to conserve heat in a modern heating system except the one in the Parlour which was still in use. We were totally sold. I asked the gentleman who owned the house why he was selling. He said his wife was poorly and the Doctors couldn't determine her problem. They suggested a warmer climate. My wife and the lady of the house were discussing the Library just off the Parlour and couldn't have heard our conversation. Finally the lady said, my husband will show you the upstairs, I'm rather tired. The grand stairway could have been straight out of Gone with the Wind. It curved up from the foyer in the front hall, curving both left and right as it made its way to the second floor. A huge, probably 12 foot or better, window set above the front door, it had a curved top and totally illuminated that staircase. We started up, about halfway up I got an eerie feeling, I can't to this day explain just what it was, but I shook it off as silliness and continued up the stairs. When we reached the second floor the gentleman said there are 5 bedrooms, one grand bedroom, two guest bedrooms and two for children. My wife almost ran through those rooms. I thought they were georgeous, she could wait to go back downstairs. The man suggested we go to the attic, as it was finished and had several fantastic views of the land outside. Said it was really beautiful in the fall. My wife thanked him but declined. She then asked if there was a rear staircase. Yes, he said, but it is rather narrow and just leads back down into the kitchen. She wanted to see it anyway. We went down those rather dark, narrow, stairs to the kitchen, where my wife thanked the owners for the tour and said we'd get back to them. We headed straight for the car. "What on earth is wrong?",I asked. She looked at me like I was nuts and said, You mean you didn't feel anything when you went up those stairs? "Funny you'd say that, I replied, But I thought it was just my imagination." She shuttered,"There is something extremely evil there." I wouldn't go back up those stairs if they GAVE us the place." The house is killing her you know?" I knew enough not to question it. As we drove back we stopped at a little ramshackle grocery and filling station for a cold drink. While I was in the store I mentioned the house. "The old XXXX house, yeah thats some place," Built by a local politician who hanged himself in the Foyer. A lot of people have looked at it, but as far as I know noone has even made an offer." Here is a case where my wife is far more sensitive to the paranormal than I am. But I guess women normally are. Shortly after that we bought this house, just as old but only a single acre and in a small village.

Halloween

Halloween, Samhein ,Saween, etc. has come and gone for another year. The house was characteristically quiet again for the spooky period; except for the approximately 380 trick or treaters I treated. The Fire Station had its annual bash for the kids and numerous parents and fire fighters patrolled the village to see that the kids had a safe and good time. Elections are drawing close and the house usually becomes active shortly after elections. Not certain why but have often thought that perhaps it was because the builder of this house was both a State Representative and later a Congressman and must have participated in several elections..but who knows.

Strange Sounds

  Last Night my wife about drove me nuts. She has lived in this house and experienced its strangeness the same as I have. You would think she would figure that strange noises and no confirmation as to their source would be taken in stride. I guess, with women, that just doesn't happen. Last night, I was in the Den drawing and my wife was working on the computer. There is a strange sound, sort of like a walnut rolling down a wooden floor." Did I hear that?" "Yes I did" "Well what was it?" " I really don't know but it must have been nothing because neither dog has stirred." A little later, "I heard walking upstairs and somebody pulled out a drawer." I go check, my younger little black schnauzer tags along. The older salt and pepper Schnauzer lazily watches us go. We go upstairs as the room over the Library is about the only room anyone could be pulling drawers and possibly be heard downstairs. The upstairs is quiet. We go to the Noah room first, no sign of anything; we then go though each upstairs room....nothing is amiss and nothing is missing. We go back downstairs and report. My wife says she heard me walking upstairs and it sounded just like the footsteps she heard. Footsteps sounding in this house is not new, it happens frequently, I tell her. "Maybe so, but these stopped to open a drawer." What did she hear? It seems to me that nothing can get by these two mutts of ours, yet neither seemed a bit nervous last night. A prowler going through the upstairs of a strange house, with two noisey dogs, while the owners are at home, seems a bit much. Talk about nerve. I'm certain the sounds originated with the house. My wife thinks we had a burgler. There was a rash of burgleries in the neighborhood which included two, possibly, three private homes and three businesses. So the wife may have been jumpy from that; but how anyone could have gotten in and out without detection by myself or our dogs and left empty handed would be as strange (to me, at lest) as an old house having a senior moment. We approach the time of year when the house starts experiencing the weird. Lets hope they remain "haunts" and not the real thing.

Dog's Strange Feat

      I have two schnauzers, as most of you know. This morning I came downstairs and let both of them out as I usually do. Both went back upstairs as they usually do. When my wife came downstairs the younger black dog came with her. She couldn't get the older dog to come down, so she closed the gate on the stairs figuring that otherwise the younger dog would return upstairs and the two of them would get into mischief. Later, when I came in, my wife explained the problem and asked me to go up and bring the older dog downstairs and make sure he hadn't done anything he shouldn't have. I turned to go upstairs and here came the older dog into the kitchen. So I figured he had come down and my wife simply missed it. "No way", was her response. He was sitting on the first dtep from the landing (about mid-way up the stairs) and refused to come down further, so I shut the gate. So I immediately looked at the door between the parlour and the diningroom, but it was tightly shut, so he hadn't come down the front stairs and entered that way. Did he jump the gate? I suppose it would be possible, but from that heigth it appears to me that he would have hit the bathroom door when he lit; the hallway is rather narrow at that point. No one heard anything and we were standing only a few feet away in the kitchen. Interesting if he did make that jump; but that has to be the only logical explaination. But thats quite a jump for a small dog and in a rather confined space.

Cigar smoke

     Yesterday upon unlocking the door and entering  the house from the western door into the kitchen,  I could distinctly smell cigar smoke, actually it was stale cigar smoke. This has happened a few times over the years, just like the lavender scent that crops up sometimes. but it still tends to worry you. Both of my dogs were behaving normally and they go nuts whenever anyone other than my wife or I enter the house. They even act like idiots when the UPS man delivers a package and they are quite friendly with him outside of the house. So I doubt anyone smelling of cigar smoke was actually in the house. Such is the price we pay to live in old houses. I just don't know the source of the smoke or the lavender. My wife does not use lavender and neither of us smoke nor allow smoking in the house. The smell was only noticeable in the kitchen area which is in the rear of the house well away from roads and neighbors.

The Creepy Begins

  The strange has begun a bit early this season. My wife has been visiting a friend this week so the sole occupants of this big barn are myself and my two schnauzers. I hadn't noticed any strange noises or otherwise until today. I have a collection of old flat tin figures, collectors call them Zinnfigurens. I have them displayed in showcases in the upstairs hall. This week I have been in the upstairs hall several times and everything has been normal. The front room at the end of the hall was once used as a chestroom, like a large closet it is actually large enough for a bed and chest of drawers but we use it to store Christmas decorations primarily. Today I was taking some items I found in the Den to store in the Christmas room. When I walked toward the Christmas room I noticed things laying on the floor in front of the showcase. Several of the zinnfigures were lined up on the floor. How did they get out of the case? The showcase is an upright case almost 6ft tall and you load it FROM THE SIDE. No way my schnauzers got in to them and I never knew a dog to line anything up anyway. I didn't do it. This isn't the first physical manification that has happened here but it is the first in a long time. I put the figures back. I hope they stay there.

Suspicious Photo

    The one questionable photograph that I got in that last roll of film is, in my opinion, nothing of consequence. After greatly enlarging the questional area, the grayish area in the alcove has nothing to suggest anything paranormal. It could be a shadow; as you recall that shot was made in available light with the electric lights off and no flash. So much for that. But I do still have the staircase shot that no one can agree upon, that to me, appears to be a womans head, Only two people agree on my take and I have a half dozen other opinions from film flaw to reflections. Maybe my haunts are camera shy....or maybe I should wait until the house gets active again before I try more photographs. That can happen most anytime but more likely after election day in November.

Thumping sounds gone

The thumping sound that was so regular in the Library and later was loud and irregular in the kitchen has not been heard since July 15th in the Kitchen and for a good bit longer than that in the Library. Its the kind of noise that can drive you nuts because you want to know what is causing it. The sound had been quiet at other times for short periods of time only to begin again. So it will be interesting to find out if this period of silence will continue or not and whether or not the sound will begin again in some other room of the house.

New film shots

     The film that I shot with the Zenit camera has finally been developed. Acting on suggestions from several of you and others on another site, I tried taking pictures of the front stairs with available light (time exposures) and with the electric lights on (very slow exposures). Obviously my tripod is very stable as the pictures all worked very clearly. I shot six of the stairs, different lighting and exposures. Only one had anything that might have been out of the ordinary. I really need to check it closer, its probably just a film flaw or something. In that one shot; the alcove in the wall at the turn of the stairs appears to have a smoky or grayish patch obscuring a portion of one side of the alcove. The alcove is very clear in the other five pictures. Everything else is clear in the questionable shot. I really need to check it out further and see if the anomalie shows up on the negative. I also took three pictures of our creepy basement. The pictures (all flash) look even creepier than the real thing but no strange manifications can be seen.

Unexplained pumping or thumping sound

    The unexplainable thumping sound that sounded on such a regular hourly basis in the library has not been heard in the library in weeks. Now it sounds off on very irregular periods in the kitchen. Louder than it was in the library, it is the same noise, only louder. Even though it is louder it is not heard in any other room. Just as it was not heard anyplace else when experienced in the library. The library sound was heard on schedule every hour on the hour. The sound in the kitchen is not regular. It sounds and may not sound again for a few days. Other than not being able to figure what causes it, its not a problem; but can drive you nuts trying to figure out its origin.

Haunted building

    This does not concern my house, or even my village. This report takes place in a neighboring town, roughly 8 miles away. This report is on a store and its history basically unfolded just this week. The store, located in an active downtown of a small town, is still open for business as it has been since the turn of the century (l9th century to 20th century). In the past week one of the salesclerks reported that while she was straightening stock on the second floor, she distinctly heard someone walk up behind her; turning, expecting to see a customer, she saw no one. Still wondering what she heard but continuing her tasks she said she heard the distinct sound of leather shoes on hard wood floor as some one walked behind her. Turning to see who it was; she saw no one. Throughly unnerved she beat a retreat downstairs and told the downstairs salesperson what she had experienced. To her surprise the downstairs saleslady had had similar experiences in the upstairs; but had never said anything before because of a fear of ridicule. So these two started asking other employees if they had ever experienced anything similar. To their surprise several had. Late last week an elderly lady was shopping the store and overheard the "gossip" about a ghost. Perking up she said, ":I knew your ghost, but I thought she'd be gone by now". The story, as I got it, is as follows. In the early 1900s the store was a clothing store which had a large sewing and alderation department on the second floor. The headseamstress who was hired when the store opened was a very dedicated and precise seamstress. She walked miles a day working in that upstairs department. Later in the early 1930s the department was moved toward the front of the upstairs and the previous area was turned into a new showroom. Downsizing the department did not sit well with the seamstress but demand for her type of work was disappearing. She died suddenly of natural causes. The old lady said she was just a younster when she worked at the store and the seamstress was still there. But after the seamstress died thay contrinued to hear her walk upstairs. Her walk was hard soled shoes on the wood plank floors with a very characteristic cadence. She said by the time she had quit there, to get married and move on, the footsteps were much less frequent so when she heard the sales people taking about it ,it suprised her because she thought they'd be gone by now. Not quite, according to present employees of the store.

Dog phantom

  It was starting to get late, the dining room was, I admit, rather dark. Not so dark that I needed the light on to simply walk through to the kitchen. As I left the Library a movement off to my right, actually right in front of the closed Parlour door, caught my attention. It was a dark shape spining around to lay down. You have watched dogs spin around two or three times before laying down, I'm sure, if you have ever had a dog. It was like I caught the last spin. Like I said the light was not on in the diningroom so the area was in semidarkness. I thought,"Which dog is it?" and looking toward the kitchenI observed both of my dogs looking at me from the kitchen doorway. Spining around back toward the Parlour door I observed there was nothing in front of the door. Keep in mind this all happened within the space of only a few seconds.I went on into the kitchen where my dogs insisted they had to go out. While walking them I had to consider what I had seen. We had only one dog who regularly laid in front of the Parlour door; a little female I had for just days shy of 18 years. Was it her or did my eyes play tricks with me? It was the turning motion that got my attention to begin with; otherwise I would have just walked through the room seeing nothing. This is but another dog "sighting", I suppose. As "ghosts" go that seems the most common. If I'm seeing a "ghost" and not just some phychological phenomena or illusion.

Strange orange glowing orbs

    I hope I have this perfectly straight. This comes directly from my wife. Last night at roughly 3 am she made a visit to the bathroom. While in there she noticed flickering orange lights through the slates of the blind on the eastern window. Thinking it to be a state patrol or sheriffs car somewhere in the neighborhood she looked out the window to see what was going on. It wasn't a car. In our side yard was three orange balls of light, roughly the size of basketballs; they were twerling about each other in an ascending way, they moved up into the sky and out of sight. I have seen ball lightning but this certainly doesn't sound like that. I have no idea what she saw. But I have no doubt she saw it. I admit that getting up in the middle of the night for a bathroom visit could leave a person a bit groggy; but to then see lights, assume it to be on a police car, and then move to the window and open the blinds and then see something strange would indicate pretty much full wakefullness. But we have no explaination for this occurance.Investigating our side lawn this morning turned up nothing out of the ordinary.

Strange pumping or thumping sound returns

   I'm not surprised that the strange sound has returned, but where it has returned. The sound is no longer heard in the Library. Night before last, the thumping sound was heard, very loud, in the kitchen by me. My wife was on the computer in the library and heard nothing. The thumping went on for a good 10 seconds or more. I was taken totally by suprise because before it was heard only in the Library. I moved in the direction of the sounds apparent source but the moment I stepped from the kitchen into the short hall that connects to the dinningroom, the sound stopped. Last night, again I was in the kitchen when it sounded. Again it was louder than it ever was in the library, but lasted only 5 thumps. My wife was in the dinningroom and again heard nothing. We were out all day today so I don't know if it continued to sound or not. But the sound, to me, is loud enough that it should be heard all over the downstairs....but it isn't. Weird. Actually, this time the thumping sounded very much like someone driving a metal post into the ground with a sledgehammer. None of my neighbors work outside after dark and besides why is it only heard, now, in the kitchen?

Disappearing Newspapers

     Today it was my wife's turn to experience a weird occurrance. Today I worked about all day in my workshop next door, so I had nothing to do with what happened. My wife was working in the kitchen on a craft project that necessitated three full fheets of newspaper. She said she got the paper and laid them out on the floor so they'd be easy to get to. She used the first full sheet and reached for the second there was no paper anywhere in sight. Two sheets of newspaper had vanished, no sight, no sound, just gone. Irritated she went back to her source (in the library) and got two more sheets from a pile she has collected for general use with projects. Returning to the kitchen, she laid the one sheet at her feet and proceeded to use the other. Reaching for her last sheet of paper, it wasn't there. Totally unnerved at this point my wife came next door to tell me about the missing papers. I told her to look in the parlour or someplace up stairs for them. Thats usually what occurs when this happens to me. She declined saying the paper could stay whereever it was taken. She then said she was going to go back over and finish the project and then start supper. Half and hour or so I went back over to the house and supper was well underway. The missing sheets of newspaper are still missing. I could find no trace of them anywhere. I suspect they will reappear in some totally absurb place, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month or next year. Thats the way of this house.

Tape recording

     I tried the tape recording. I asked questions and left the recorder run. There was no result. I will try again, but in the green room this time.

Weird occurance today

    A minor thing yet strange nonetheless. I was walking the dogs today at about 4pm and as we were returning to the house I noticed the evening paper on the front stoop. So the dogs and I went over to the front stoop to get the paper. Just as I was picking it up the front door shook like someone was unlocking it to come out. Figuring my wife was coming out to get the paper, I waited. No one appeared and the door did not open. Our front door is extremely heavy, made of local walnut. Wind, which was very light, would not have moved that door. The parlour door is kept closed as are the upstairs bedroom doors that open onto the front hall and staircase so it wasn't suction from some door being opened in another part of the house. My wife, who is suffering from a sprain isn't moving about a whole lot anyway. When I reentered  the house through the side door into the kitchen my wife was standing at the sink. I ask if she had gone through the house for the paper. She assured me that she hadn't left the kitchen. So what made like it was coming through the front door? I haven't figured a logical explaination as yet. If I do I will post it.

Took more photographs

  Last Saturday I finally got around to taking more experimental photographs of the front stairway where I may have gotten an anamoly once before. The suggestion was made that I try taking photos of the stairs under normal lighting and then existant lighting. I have an old light meter but the lighting in the front hall was so weak it didn't even register on the meter. So first, using the regular hall lighting I tried a couple of short time exposures of varying lengths of time (five to 10 seconds) and then turning off the hall light, I tried again, several times, with long time exposures. I have no idea if I recorded anything as the hall is dark and even though I was using 800 speed film I may not have anything....or I may have overexposed the lot. I guess only time will tell. I did shoot one flash. I've got to start the recorders again. I haven't used them for a while.

A really wierd situation

    What happened with me last Sunday is not a ghostly experience nor did it take place in my house. But it did happen in this town. A situation that is almost impossible to discribe. Last Sunday morning I arrived a church early because being in the chior we rehearse before services begin. As always a very good friend of mine was there taking his place in the tenor section. Looking at the man I at first thought he looked pale and wondered if he felt alright. He was talking and acting quite normal. Then I realised that he just plain looked faded. How else can I discribe it? His whole personage just didn't look quite real. I put the event down in my mind as my imagination. When we filed into the chior loft this gentleman was late making his way into the loft because he was talking to several church members as he made his way forward. The church service was normal and after the service we filed out and my friend and his wife left to go to a restaurant in a neighboring town, as they did almost every Sunday and I went home. My wife was working on a craft project in the kitchen with the radio on . I was using the computer and catching up on several sites. At about 1 pm my wife came into the library and said she heard on the radio that a bad wreck had occured on the state highway out of town and that an elderly couple from our village had been killed. The thought went through my mind that it was my friend and his wife and my wife said, "I hope it wasn't Mr. and Mrs. ----. As there are over 300 people in this town and better than half of them are elderly why did we both think that? I shook it off as silly but it just kept popping up. Finally I said, try to find out who it was. The radio would not disclose the people until next of kin had been alerted. Finally, tuning into the TV station of a town 40 miles away we got the story and the names. It was my friend and his wife. He had been killed instantly and his wife died about three hours later. It was a head-on collision. The local fire department was first on the scene. It was really hard on them as the victem had been their treasurer for years and he was extremely well known and liked in town. They were able to surmise that he was dead before the collision, probably of a heart attack. The truck he was driving swerved into the other lane. His wife, obviously seeing what was happening grabbed the wheel and pulled the truck back toward the proper lane. The incoming car seeing the truck in the wrong lane and not having room to move to the right had swung left to avoid a collision and the truck returning to the proper lane connected head-on. The other driver was injured but not killed. But my friend was 90 years old and his wife was 95. Both were very active physically and the church was already making plans for first her centennial birthday and then his 5 years later. I guess it just wasn't to be. I'm still plagued by the thought...."Did I foresee this coming?"

A Real Scare

     Last night was one for the books. My wife and I turned in for the night at roughly mid-night. Once you pass your 60th birthday you tend to have to get up sometime during the night for comfort. Anyway the upstairs bath is on the opposite side of the house from the master bedroom and at the end of a long hall. Also just off the bathroom is the rear stairway. I admit I was half asleep on my way to the bathroom and I probably wasn't fully awake when I started the return trip to the bedroom. But I assure you, I was wide awake as soon as I heard the rear stairs creaking, like something coming upstairs. This house is old and the stairs creak, especially the rear stairs. The creaks were definitely progressing up the stairs. Perhaps it was a dumb thing to do, but I immediately switched on the light to the stairs. There was absolutely nothing on the stairs and the creaking stopped. At this point I was wide awake. The grandfather Clock in the hall showed 3:15. Going back to bed and going to sleep took some doing. Maybe there is something to that 3am witching hour. Is there a natural explaination? Probably, but I don't know what it is or why the creaking stopped when I switched on the light. My wife and our dogs slept through it, but then again I was the only one close to the source of the sound. If nothing else, owning an old house can be interesting.

Marking pen

    This is going to seem mundane. But I'm sure that if it happened to you, you would wonder about it. Day before yesterday I was planting garden seed into one of those seedling trays that gardeners use to start plants. I had identification sticks so I'd know what I planted and where. These sticks must be written on by waterproof ink as they are under a clear plastic lid which draws a lot of moisture. I was doing the planters while seated at the kitchen table. I had just finished a planting and wrote on the stick, with the only waterproof marker that I had. Not going anywhere, and still seated at the kitchen table, I laid the pen beside the tray and changed to a different seed. Once the second type seed was planted I reached for the marker and it was not there. I picked up the seed tray and looked around it and under it, no marker. I then checked out myself and around my chair, no marker. It wasn't on the table and it wasn't under the table, I even checked my pockets. Throughly frustrated I switched to a pencil and figured I could redo them later in ink. Completing the whole tray in this fashion I then moved the tray to a heat register in front of a window to sprout. We had at lest two meals on that table over the next day and a half.This morning the marker (its a big fat one) was laying in approximately the center of the kitchen table. Go figure.

Photographs

  My paranormal friend has suggested that I take available light photos of my stair area that seems to be one focal point of paranormal activities. It was also suggested that I do this about 3 am. Those stairs are very dark on the brightest of days. Even with the house lights on, I'm not sure how long of an exposure to attempt. I do have an antiquated light meter that may help. If I try a couple with the lights off totally, it'll be almost like shooting a picture in a photographic darkroom. And can someone tell me why 3 am is singled out as oppertune as opposed to mid-night, the supposed witches hour? I'm really open to suggestions here. Not sure when I'll try it; 3 am is a lot later than us old folks like to stay up. Possibly during the Easter break.

Strange shadow

  Our upstairs bath sets at the end of a long hallway. About midway down the hall, my wife has a bureau where she keeps sheets and such. I was just leaving the bath to go back down stairs when the shadow of a man moved across the bathward side of that bureau. At first I thought I had cast the shadow, but when I stepped back, I realized I was not casting any shadow in that direction. In fact I tried, moving here and then there, forward, backward and to the right and then the left. I simply did not cast any shadow in that direction. The shadow was most likely male. The head did, upon reflection, seemed abnormally round. There were shoulders but the shadow hit the bureau in a slightly downward sweep. Just as you would expect a shadow, from a moving object, to do. Not much that happens in this house is a big shock anymore, but the shadow is a new phenomena for me.

Thumping sound goes silent

The thumping sound, I have reported in the past, has not been heard since circa Feb. 2nd.

Photos of the front stairs

    As you recall, I said I took additional pictures of the front stairs during the period of the full moon and a couple of other times as well. This suggestion was made in an attempt to see if the strange image I accidently got that looked a bit like a womans face, at the right height for someone decending the front steps. Unfortunately these pictures also came out perfectly clear without even a hint of the unusual.

Strange disappearances

   I have said, various times, that things disappear in this house and then reappear in totally illogical places. Keep in mind that only myself , my wife and our two dogs live here. We have had no company in the past two weeks, primarily because the weather has been hideous, extremely snowy and icy. I have a couple of places where I keep our camera. One is in the library and the other is on the dinningroom sideboard. I needed the camera a couple days ago to take a picture of an old mantle clock that I suspect dates back into the 1800s. I needed a shot of it to send to a clock expert in hopes he could identify and date it. The camera was not anywhere to be found. I have a second camera but the film was just started and I didn't need 26 shots of this clock. The missing camera had three or four shots left. Two days later I find the camera in the kitchen BREAD BOX. Neither my wife nor I are senile yet. This is totally unexplainable; yet these things happen in this house. Some things don't reappear for weeks or months and some never reappear. I guess I was lucky it was only gone a couple of days. Oh, by the way we do keep our bread in the bread box. I have toast about every morning.

Dogs

     All of the dogs that I have ever actually owned have lived all or part of their lives in this house. All have been miniature Schnauzers. When we first moved here in the summer of 79' , We had two Salt and Pepper Schnauzers. A twelve year old female and a seven year old male. The little male died here, in the house, of lymph cancer only about 6 mos. after we moved in. The older female went on to 14 but died of the same condition; also here in the house. I bought a male puppy while the older female was yet alive. She accepted him pretty well but he was more than she could handle. After her death, I got a female and the two became fast friends, so fast that two litters resulted. The runt of the first litter we kept, the rest were sold. So there were three dogs in this house for a number of years. From the time we first moved here we would sometimes see a white, brown spotted ,dog on the rear stairs. It appeared to look like a Jack Russell. Never amounted to more than a short glimpse. Usually facing you, he looked like he was expecting you to play with him. But his appearances were hardly more than impressions. But we both remarked on it. This dog did not look like any dog I had ever had and though my wife had dogs when she was growing up, she never had one that looked like that one. The female I bought developed liver cancer and had to be put to sleep by the local vet, she was 11 years old. I still had the male and his female offspring. I had my little male a long time; but he had a series of strokes in his 17th year and just before his 18th birthday he had gotten so bad I had the vet put him down. Strange, after the shot was administered he took two deep breaths and then the longest, most relieved, sigh I ever heard a dog make. I think I did the right thing for him. His offspring continued with us as an only dog. She,too, did very well until she was 17 years old and then we noticed a subtle change in her. Thought she was getting hard of hearing. During a check up at the vets I described what she was doing. The Vet diagnosed Alzheimers. There was a canine medicine for it then and we had our old pup back for a few months, then decline started rapidly again and just shy of her 18th birthday she forgot how to eat or drink or stand or anything but lay and stare. Again it was time. There is a Pet Cemetery just south of Canton Ohio where all of my deceased dogs are buried. After the loss of the only home born dog my wife thought it best tohave no more dogs, We went six months. I missed them terribly My wife must have too, though she'd never admit it....but one day she called me from work....Theres a lady down here with the cutest little schnauzer pup for sale..... I now have two, one is 3 years old and the other, our first black schnauzer, is almost 1. So I guess it is understandable that most dog sightings are Schnauzers. But the Jack Russell does still make an appearance,

Dog on Stairs

     Last night, around 8 pm, I went upstairs, by our rear staircase, to find a magazine I had been reading. The rear stairs end abruptly and turn to the right before continuing on up to the second floor. As I was ascending the stairs I very definitely saw the rear part of a grey dog make the turn in the stairs. As our dogs are not allowed upstairs except when we go up for the night; I thought our grey (salt and pepper) schnauzer had gotten through the gate somehow and was heading upstairs. I yelled his name, rather agitated I fear.  A bark from behind me alerted me to the fact that said dog was at the foot of the stairs, looking up at me with those big brown eyes that said "What did I do?" As our other schnauzer is black (actually a very very dark brown) it could not have been her. A bit embarrased, I had to go back down, remove the gate and allow the blameless dog to accompany me back upstairs. Needless to say there was no other dog up there. Had there been my little male would have known. He was just happy to be going where he doesn't normally. This isn't the first time I've seen dogs that weren't there. My wife has experienced the same several times so if I'm nuts were both nuts.

Thumping sound resumes but changes

    The weird thumping or pumping sound has resumed. But its cadence has changed. For example yesterday we first heard it at 6:20pm and it sounded like it always does with a series of thumps that last between 5 and 10 ceconds. Then at 6:51 pm it repeated. This is not what we have been hearing for weeks now. Its usually every hour, on the minute; this was only 31 minutes between. Then at 7:21 we heard a single thump, followed by a regular cadence, very loud at 7:51. Again at 8:20 only one thump with the norm at 8:51. Nothing was heard at 9:20 or 21, but the normal pattern repeated softly at 9:51. 10:21 sounded one thump and a normal pattern at 10:51. Silence again reigned at 11:20 and 21 but the sound resumed, loudly this time, at 11:51. Today has been pretty much the same. Still only heard in the Library. Still not identified. Still driving me nuts.

Strange pumping sound

     The strange pumping sound that is only heard in the library has not been heard since Monday the 15th. On that day it sounded every hour starting at 6:50pm through 11:50pm. But has been quiet since. The regularity of the sound and the fact that stretches of days without it occur is most perplexing. I have found no explaination for it.

Strange voice

       Last night, as I was sitting at the computer with both of my dogs at my side, I distinctly heard my name called. The interesting thing is so did both of my dogs who immediately got up and ran toward the kitchen. I followed, my wife was working on a craft project on the kitchen table. I asked what she wanted. She said she hadn't called me. I said the dogs both reacted to it. She replied that she absolutely had not said anything for quite some time. Even the kitchen TV was not on. This is not common, but these sounds do happen on occasion. But this time there was no mistake that the dogs heard it as well.

Ghost photos

      A while back I shot a picture up our front stairs which seemed to show what I thought appeared to be a phantom of a womans head, at about the right height for someone coming down the stairs. It wasn't really that plain. My wife thought it was probably a film or development flaw. I had two guests who thought they could see what I saw, but another said it looked more like a phantom portrait.  A paranormal investigator asked to see it. I sent it to him and though he noticed a discoloration he failed to see a face; but thought it promising enough that I should reshoot the picture and take the staircase from several other angles and make the shots just before or just after the full moon. I did the experiment and the shots all came out clear with nothing unusual in sight. I have tried it again, at full moon. But those shots have not been developed as yet.

Strange sound is daily now.

     The inexplicable pumping sound which can only be heard in the library and nowhere else in the house or out of the house; has been occuring on a regular hourly basis since I last posted about it here. The sound does occur on rare occassion in the morning, but is most reliably noted between 6 and midnight. Sometimes its louder than other times. Sometimes its more rapid than at other times. It only lasts 5 or 10 seconds at a time.Its never exactly the same time of the day, but it is pretty much exactly one hour to the minute each day. If its heard at 6:54 you can set your watch you'll hear it again at 7:54 and so on. But the next day you might hear it  at 7:53 and so on. Some days (rare recently) you don't hear it at all. I suppose it has a logical explaination. But only hearing it in one room and not being able to source it out is becoming a real problem.

To read this journal

   When you scroll to the bottom of this journal, hit the "permalink" to continue reading back through the journal. The last entry will reappear but if you go to the bottom of it you will see a ference to an earlier entry, go there and continue back to the earliest entry.

Mysterious pumping sound continues

The mystrious pumping sound continues and still no logical explaination is forthcoming. The sound can only be heard in the library. The sound lasts not more than ten seconds. The sound is of something heavy pumping or pounding. The sound is regular. If the first sound detected is at 5:53 then the next will occur at 6:53 and so on. We have heard it every night this week that we were home. It is not heard outside. It is not heard in any other room of the house. Tonight it has been especially loud; at 5:53, 6:53 and 7:53pm. I am open to suggestions from anyone as to what or where this sound is coming from.